Lebanon -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- As world leaders debate what to do about Syria , one thing remains clear -- the plight and suffering of the people is only getting worse .

According to the United Nations , more than 100,000 Syrians have died in the conflict and about 2 million Syrians have fled their country , mostly to Jordan , Lebanon , and Turkey .

An estimated 6.8 million people are in desperate need inside Syria . As an aid worker for Mercy Corps for over a decade , I can attest that this is a humanitarian disaster of historic proportions .

Mercy Corps is already supporting nearly 2 million people affected by the crisis , and we are now working around the clock to prepare for a variety of possible scenarios that could play out in the coming days or weeks .

Although we have n't seen any significant change in the number of refugees crossing into Lebanon and Jordan yet , one likely scenario is a significant increase in refugees , and possibly a flood of families fleeing the violence in Syria .

These refugees will have immediate emergency needs -- like food , shelter , water and medical and psychological care -- but neighboring countries that are already hosting hundreds of thousands of refugees are overwhelmed and struggling to support any newcomers .

I see firsthand the tremendous burden the Syrian refugees are already placing on countries like Jordan , Turkey , Lebanon , and most recently Iraq . Their limited natural resources are being tapped , their economies are suffering and their own citizens are feeling the strain .

In Lebanon the influx has caused a spike in the cost of rent , food and basic necessities , and a drop in household incomes as refugees , desperate for work , accept lower than standard wages .

I recently met Ali Ahmad Obeid , a Lebanese small business owner , who has been running a carpentry shop for the past 14 years . Before the conflict , he had five employees and his business was thriving . But in the past two years , his business has suffered .

He told me : `` I used to rent my shop for 350 thousand Lebanese Liras , now the price is double . I ca n't afford the rent and I had to let my employees go ... I can barely feed my children . ''

This all creates tensions between the host communities and the refugees that has an additional destabilizing effect on the region , and that 's a serious problem . The humanitarian response needs to address longer-term needs like creating jobs , while still providing urgently needed immediate assistance .

Despite these challenges , host countries and the international aid community are building transit reception areas to accommodate incoming refugees who may have to wait for immigration processing and registration in the case of a massive influx of new arrivals .

In Jordan , we are working closely with the U.N. and other aid organizations to prepare a new refugee camp -LRB- Azraq camp -RRB- located east of Amman . We are accelerating our work on providing water and child-friendly spaces , and the camp is scheduled to open in the next two weeks . It will accommodate 30,000 refugees upon opening , and can expand to accommodate up to 130,000 refugees .

Mercy Corps has pre-positioned aid packages for new refugees , who often arrive with only the clothes they are wearing . Mattresses , blankets , hygiene kits and baby-kits are on stand-by to meet a possible increased need . We are also expanding our child protection programs to ensure young refugees have access to psychosocial support and activities they desperately need to recover from the traumatic events they experience .

With no solution to the crisis on the horizon , the hope of refugees being able to return home anytime soon is remote . I 've spoken with hundreds of refugees over the past year and most of them are realizing it will be a long haul . The majority of them do n't see how the divisions that wrack Syria will be mended , but no one I have talked with has given up on their dream of returning .

` Slow response '

Ehmad , a teenager from Homs who came to Lebanon over a year ago , told me he was so homesick that he actually tried to return . Despite the fighting , he went back to Homs and found his neighborhood destroyed and totally deserted , and could n't stay . Back in Lebanon , Ehmad told me he no longer cares who wins . `` I just want the fighting to stop so we can go home and restore our country , '' he said .

Currently , the Syrian humanitarian crisis is woefully underfunded . From a private donor standpoint , Mercy Corps has raised just over $ 1 million for our Syria refugee work , mostly from a handful of major donors , but that is over two years . For the earthquake in Kashmir -LRB- 2005 -RRB- we raised more than $ 8 million in private donations in about two months . Without the necessary funding to run desperately needed programs , I am seeing more and more Syrian families and children facing desperate conditions .

Donor response to slow-onset , conflict-related humanitarian emergencies is always slow compared to rapid-onset natural disasters -- but giving to the Syrian crisis has been exceptionally slow . That said , giving has picked up recently as media coverage has intensified and we are reaching out aggressively to find the resources required to help families fleeing the violence .

However , as the conflict wears into a third year , governments and individuals need to make more funding available -- not only to the immediate crisis , but for longer-term solutions that include livelihoods and other economic enabling opportunities , and education for over a million refugee children .

It is also critical that neighboring countries keep their borders open to Syrians who need to flee the conflict , despite the challenges that these massive , mobile populations can bring with them .

Syrians are desperate , and their challenges will almost certainly get worse before they get better . This is the most complex humanitarian crisis of our time and it is more critical than ever that the international community strengthen its support .

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Cassandra Nelson .

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Nelson : I see firsthand the burden Syrian refugees are placing on neighboring countries

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The humanitarian response needs to address longer-term needs like creating jobs , she says

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Nelson says the hope of refugees being able to return home anytime soon is remote

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This is the most complex humanitarian crisis of our time , she writes